The Princess and the Dragon
by Black Wolf XIII
Summary: Seven years ago, King Jude had his daughter locked up in a far away castle. The king had his finest been and his greatest treasure left in the castle as well. As tales of riches and beauty spread though the land, many sought to steak from the castle, but the King had prepared for the greed of men. But not for the greed of man. But not for the greed of a dragon...


**Disclaimer: **The following is a nonprofit fan story. Fairy Tail is property of Hiro Mashima and... Well, you get the rest. Not matter how much I love the characters, I don't own them.

* * *

Once upon a time, in the small kingdom Fiore, there live King Jude and Queen Layla Heartfilia. The King and Queen were blessed with a beautiful baby girl named Lucy, who brought happiness throughout the land. That happiness did not last long though. The Queen grew and die not when Princess Lucy was still young. The death of his beloved wife broke both the heart and mind of the king. In his madness, he saw his daughter as only a reminder of his late wife. He had Princess Lucy, who was only but nine years of age, locked away in a far away castle. There she would stay until the day he allowed her to return.

King Jude knew that someday, he would need his daughter once more, when she was ready to marry and produce an heir to the throne. Therefore, to ensure that she grew into a fine woman, he had his finest knights posted at her castle to guard her. And his finest servants and scholars to teach her and raise her. He stored many great fortunes in the castle, as so whenever the princess desired something, she could have it. The king figured that if she was given whatever she wanted in that castle, that she wouldn't wish to live to he sent for her.

Soon, though, word of the vast riches spread throughout the land. And many thieves lusted after the gold. Others, hearing of how the beauty of princess Lucy had grown as she became a young woman, sought to have her as their own. And so, many men attempted to steal from the castle, but all who attempted to reach the vaults or the princess were swiftly captured and executed.

Seven years the castle remained this way. The knights could easily handle any man who tried to make away with the castle's treasures. Yes, the king had calculate perfectly for the greed of men.

But not for the greed of a dragon...

* * *

Lucy sat alone in her room, thinking.

_When will I ever get out of here? _

She turned and looked out the window.

The land had never changed even once in the seven years she had lived, no, had been trapped there. The castle had been built along and into the side of a mountain, as to make nearly impossible for anyone to enter. There was only one gate and only one path. And as for being built into the mountain, the castle had been made as so the vault was within a cave in the mountain. Lucy noted that the wind was calm that evening, almost completely still.

A knock at the door shook her from her thoughts.

"Princess!" A voice called. "I've brought you your supper."

The door opened to reveal the maid.

"Virgo," Lucy said, "I'm not hungry."

"Would you like to punish me then?"

"No, Virgo."

As though to rove her wrong, Lucy's stomach began to growl.

"Very well. I will just leave it here then."

Virgo set the tray of food on a table that sat to one corner of the room. Virgo then bowed and left.

Lucy, knowing her stomach wouldn't forgive her otherwise, decided that she would have to eat.

After she had finished, she pulled out a journal she had kept and began to write. She wrote about the adventures that she would love to have, how much she hated being locked away, and about how she missed her mother. Her whole journal had been written as though it were letters to her late mother.

When she finished writing she was tired and headed over to her bed. She left the window beside her bed open as it was a warm night. Lucy thought about the seven years she had been in this castle and started to cry.

"Seven years. One would think I would have given up by now. One would think I would have stopped crying by now. I'm tired of being in these walls!"

She looked out the window and up to the starry heavens.

"Please. Any spirit, or star, or god who hears my wish, please, take me away from here."

She stopped crying when she felt a strange wind blow in through her window. A wind hissed as though something was cutting through the air and fanning the wind towards the castle, like a giant set of wings.

_That's strange. _She thought. _The wind was completely still earlier. _

Lucy stuck her head out the window to look around when the most ferocious roar she had ever heard shook the castle walls. A massive figure swooped down from the sky and crashed into the castle courtyard. The roar filled the air once more and the glow of fire seemed to cover the mountainside. With the angle of where her window was facing, Lucy couldn't fully see what was happening.

She began to her the people of the castle panicking and the castle's emergency bell began to ring.

"What's going on...!?"

"Princess!" A voice yelled.

Virgo charged into the room, her usual calm demeanor had been shattered.

"Princess! We have to go! Hurry!"

"What's going...!?"

"There isn't enough time to explain we must run!"

Virgo grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her along with him down the steps with him.

The castle began to shake again as the ear splitting roar cut through the air.

"Is it a monster?" Lucy asked.

"The most ferocious kind of monster. One whose greed knows no end."

The reached the exit of the tower and entered into the courtyard. Lucy was terrified as she looked around at the blazing wreckage.

_That monster has this kind of power. _She thought. _Don't tell me it's... _

The beast roared once more, pulling Lucy from her thoughts.

Virgo tugged at her arm more now, and the quickly ran towards the exit.

Lucy turned to look back and saw some of the servants caught behind a collapsed pile of rubble.

"Virgo! There's still people over there!"

Lucy pulled her arm away and ran towards the rubble.

"We have to help them!"

"Princess! Come back!"

Lucy ignored her plea. When she reached the pile of debris, she began to pull and tug at collapsed boards and stones. Virgo began to help her and the servants finally pushed there way out. Lucy looked in and saw one man still trapped. She hurriedly climbed through the opening.

"Princess!" Virgo shouted behind her. "Come back! It's dangerous!"

Lucy help the collapsed man to his feet and took him to the opening.

"Virgo! Here, help him!"

Virgo took the mans arms and pulled him out.

The castle shook once more and the floor below Lucy's feet gave way. As she fell into the passageway below, she could see the entrance she had used collapsing separating her from Virgo. Lucy hit the ground with a thud and began to fall unconscious.

* * *

Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she was greeted by the sight of a dark passage in the lower floors of the castle.

"What happened? Where am I?"

Lucy tried to recall what had happened to cause her to collapse here, but could remember nothing.

"Hello!" She called out. "Is anyone there!?"

There was no answer.

Lucy listened closely to try to hear if anyone was moving about. In the distance, she could hear what sounded like the jangling of gold coins.

_Someone must be in the vault. I can go find out what happened from them._

Lucy rushed down the dark, damp hall till she reached the massive doorway of the vaults. The doors had been practically knocked off their hinges and the stone floor had been cracked, as though a giant had stomped there.

_Something definitely happened, I just can't remember what. _

Lucy steeled herself and called into the seemingly empty room.

"Is there anyone there!?"

"Who calls out to me?" A loud voice growled in response.

"I am Lucy Heartfilia!" She responded. "I am the princess of this castle!"

"Princess. All human's have left this place!"

Suddenly Lucy remembered everything that had happened earlier. The panic, the rubble, the fire...

"The roar..." she thought aloud. "Who are you!?"

"I am Natsu..." the voice bellowed.

Lucy shook in fear as a great mound of gold slid away to reveal and massive red beast. Its whole body was covered in scales, its talons were large enough to crush a squad of knights in one blow, and its gold eyes seemed to glow like an eternal flame.

"Son of the Fire Dragon King, Igneel!"

* * *

So, I was going to have this be part of my Nalu one-shot collection called Love & Lucy, but I started thinking about what I could do with it so I decided I would write it as it's own story.

I'd like to hear what you all think of it so leave me some reviews.


End file.
